


Major in Miscommunications

by imaginary_golux



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-24
Updated: 2016-04-24
Packaged: 2018-06-04 07:10:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6647470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginary_golux/pseuds/imaginary_golux
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finn and Rey meet in English Comp 101. Finn and Poe meet at the park. Poe and Rey meet at the auto repair shop.</p>
<p>...Let the fluff and pining commence.</p>
<p>Beta (and plotbunny) by my Best Beloved, Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Major in Miscommunications

Finn’s honestly a little nervous about English Composition 101 - he _can_ write, but the military academy his parents shipped him off to was not big on creative thought, and he’s dubious about being able to turn out anything _interesting_. Also, there are a _lot_ of people in the room, and he’s still not used to the sheer _chaos_ which is life outside the First Order Academy.

The girl who slides into the seat next to him looks almost as nervous as he feels. She puts her notebook down and fusses with it for a moment, making sure it’s perfectly aligned, and then starts rooting in her bag for a pen. Finn can see the moment she realizes she doesn’t have one, and, well - he knows how she feels.

“Here,” he says, offering his own spare pen. She looks up at him in brief surprise and then vast relief.

“Thanks,” she says, taking it and offering a hand to shake. “I’m Rey.”

“Finn,” Finn says, grinning, and shakes her hand.

“You know anything about English composition?” Rey asks, a little desperately.

“Nope,” Finn says, and shrugs. “Guess we’ll have to figure it out together.”

Rey relaxes a little, gives him a broad and lovely smile. “Yeah? Yeah. Okay. We’ve got this.”

“Damn straight,” Finn says, and thinks to himself that he’s found his very first real friend.

*

Finn finds a leather jacket on a park bench during his daily jog, just lying there looking abandoned, and scoops it up as he passes. Perhaps he’ll spot its owner on his way out of the park - and if he doesn’t, his RA, Phasma, might have an idea about where to drop it off.

He’s almost finished another circuit of the park when a corgi comes galloping up to him, barking its tiny head off, and growling like it thinks it’s big enough to be threatening. Finn stops and blinks at it, staying well out of range of its teeth. Its owner comes trotting up, looking apologetic.

“I’m so sorry, Beebee’s usually not this - wait. That’s my jacket.”

“Oh good!” Finn says, holding the jacket out. “I was hoping I’d find the owner.”

The other man takes the jacket with a broad, beautiful smile. “Thanks, buddy! I would’ve been really bummed to lose this. Hey, Beebee, calm down; he helped me out.” He hunkers down to coax the dog into a good humor again, glancing up at Finn with a wry expression. “She’s sort of protective.”

“It’s fine - she didn’t know me,” Finn says, as the man ruffles his dog’s ears. It’s sort of painfully adorable.

“Still, I owe you one,” the man says, standing and holding out a hand. “I’m Poe. Let me buy you a drink?”

“Um,” says Finn, taking his hand. “I’m Finn. And, um, I don’t drink.”

Poe shrugs, smiling. “A coffee? Tea? Hot chocolate?” He scoops his dog up into his arms, somehow becoming even more adorable. “Whatever you prefer, buddy.”

“...Hot chocolate?” Finn says, and trails after the other man as Poe leads the way out of the park.

“There’s this place just down the street, Maz’s Cantina, you’ll love it…”

*

Rey is three hours into her shift at Han’s Auto Shop when the bell on the door jingles and a really unfairly attractive man comes in, a corgi at his heels. She glances out the front window and her eyes widen at the sight of what must be his car, a really _gorgeous_ restored classic black Mustang.

Han pokes his head out of the back and grimaces. “Dameron! Shit, I forgot you were coming in today...kid, you can take this one.” He vanishes back into the workshop to the sound of his business partner’s unintelligible grumbling.

Dameron raises an eyebrow at Rey, grinning. Rey grins back.

“That’s a _lovely_ car,” she says, quite honestly. “What do you need done?” She holds out a hand as the corgi comes padding around the desk, letting the dog lick her fingers. “And who’s this little one?”

Dameron leans on the desk, watching her with sparkling eyes. “That’s Beebee,” he says cheerfully, “and I’m just in for a checkup. You’re new here; usually I have to bribe Solo out of the back room with doughnuts.”

Rey laughs. “Well, if you _want_ to bribe me with doughnuts, I won’t complain,” she says, and to her delight Dameron actually produces a little paper sack of doughnuts from his messenger bag and hands her one, winking.

“I won’t tell Solo if you don’t,” he says.

“Deal, Mr. Dameron,” Rey says, grinning back.

*

Rey shoves her third draft across the table at Finn and puts her head down wearily. “This is _frustrating_ ,” she says. “Tell me something good.”

“I met this really cute guy at the park,” Finn says after a moment’s thought. “He bought me hot chocolate because I returned his jacket, and told me about flying fighter planes.”

Rey raises her head and blinks at him. “No shit, _really_? That is _so fucking cool_.” She sighs. “ _I_ want to fly someday. And what good is being able to write an essay going to do me if I’m a pilot, anyhow?”

“...Not sure,” Finn admits. He scans her paper in silence for a few minutes. “But this is a _lot_ better, Rey, seriously. And hey! You finally discovered spellcheck!”

“Oh screw you,” Rey says, grinning. “As long as you can read it, why does it matter anyway? _Shakespeare_ spelled his name eight different ways!”

“...Why do you know that?” Finn asks, baffled.

“It came up,” Rey says, waving a hand. “My boss’s partner is weird, but he knows all _sorts_ of neat shit. And he can swear in eighteen languages.”

“Wow,” says Finn, genuinely impressed. “I can only curse in four.”

“...Why can you curse in four languages?”

“Military academy,” Finn says succinctly. “ _Amazing_ what you learn.”

“I gotta introduce you to Chewie someday,” Rey says, and tug’s Finn’s paper over to her. “Okay, I’m gonna read this through, and then you’re gonna buy us both some hot chocolate and tell me about Cute Guy and his fighter planes.”

“Deal,” Finn says, “as long as you buy the cookies.”

“You drive a hard bargain, sir,” Rey tells him solemnly, and they manage to look each other in the eyes with straight faces for about thirty seconds before cracking up.

*

“Hey, mind if I join you?” Poe asks, and Finn turns to grin at him, slowing his pace slightly so that Beebee isn’t galloping quite so desperately.

“Sure,” he says, and they do two laps of the park in companionable silence, Beebee trotting happily at Poe’s heels. They pause next to a little hill, and Poe flops down on the grass to scratch Beebee behind the ears while Finn does his warmdown stretches.

“So what’s new with you, then?” Poe asks, when Finn flumps down beside him. Beebee, who has apparently decided that Finn is acceptable, scrambles into his lap and demands petting. Finn rubs her head gently.

“Not too much. English Comp is kind of kicking my ass, but I’ve got a study buddy, and we’re getting through,” he admits.

“Yeah?” Poe says, grinning.

“Yeah, she’s pretty great,” Finn says. “She’s got all these cool ideas, and she’s _smart_ , like terrifyingly smart, but she can’t spell worth a damn and she’s not so great on remembering to put the articles in. So I do the little nitpicky stuff and she tells me when I need to actually make an _argument_ instead of just listing facts.”

“Sounds like you make a good team,” Poe says, and Finn nods.

“Yeah, I think we kind of do,” he says. “She’s awesome, seriously - you should meet her.”

“I’d like that,” Poe admits, and then rolls to his feet and offers Finn a hand up. “Hot cocoa?”

“You know, drinking hot chocolate after running _kind_ of misses the point of exercise,” Finn points out, but he takes Poe’s hand anyhow. One hot chocolate isn’t _that_ big a deal, not when it gives him an excuse to spend more time with Poe.

*

“Well, it’s not _too_ bad,” Rey says as she straightens from examining the car. “A little dinged, but I think we can fix it easily enough.”

“Thank goodness,” Dameron says. “I was hoping it wasn’t too bad. I mean, far better the car than a kid, but still…”

“Yeah, I hear you. Good reflexes,” Rey says approvingly. Dameron apparently had run his car into a guardrail when a kid ran out in front of him, but the damage is mostly superficial. “You and Beebee alright, I hope?”

“No damage to us,” Dameron confirms, and Beebee, recognizing her name, rears up to put her paws on Rey’s knee. Rey bends down to scratch the little dog’s head.

“Good,” Rey says firmly. “So it’ll take us a few days to get this all straightened out, but I should think less than a week. Will you need a loaner until then, Mr. Dameron?”

“Nah,” Dameron says. “We mostly walk around town, don’t we, Beebee? Though if you’re offering that lovely old thing Solo has - what does he call it, the Falcon? - I might take you up on it.”

Rey laughs. “I don’t think Solo lets anyone but Chewie drive that thing,” she says. “Sorry.”

Dameron pouts exaggeratedly. “All my dreams, cruelly dashed,” he sighs. “Oh well. I guess we’ll just have to walk, Beebee and I. Shall I bring you daily doughnuts to make sure you remember us?”

“I never say no to doughnuts,” Rey tells him solemnly, and he grins like the sun coming up.

*

“How’s the car shop?” Finn asks as they look over the professor’s marks on their papers.

“Not too bad. Fixing up an old classic that got in a fender-bender,” Rey says absently. “Owner’s a nice guy. Brings me food.”

“Rey, you like _anyone_ who feeds you,” Finn points out, and pushes half his sandwich across the table. Rey snatches it and grins.

“Well, yes, but even apart from that. He’s kind of a sweetheart, and nice to talk to. He doesn’t give me any crap for being a girl.”

“Gotcha,” Finn agrees.

“I mean, Han’s good about shutting that sort of thing down,” Rey adds, “but still. It’s nice not to _have_ to deal with it, you know? And he has the cutest little dog.”

“You are a complete softy for animals,” Finn says.

The Cantina’s resident cat pokes its head up over the table from its place in Rey’s lap and eyes the remains of Finn’s sandwich. Rey gives it a slice of ham. Finn sighs. “My point.”

“Animals are honest, affectionate, and easy to understand, and they like you if you feed them,” Rey says placidly. “Most humans aren’t nearly as pleasant.”

Finn considers this. “Fair enough,” he admits at last.

Rey hands him half of her cookie with a sweet smile. Finn gives her his very best pleading eyes and meows plaintively, and the Cantina’s cat stands up in Rey’s lap to give him an indignant look while Rey dissolves in joyful laughter.

*

Rey is pretty sure Finn has a crush on the cute guy from the park, who buys him hot chocolate and tells him stories about flying fighter planes. She’s...not disappointed, precisely, because Finn’s not hers to begin with, but she’d have maybe liked a chance. He’s the first guy she’s met that she’d really be interested in having as a boyfriend. (Though she wouldn’t kick Dameron out of bed for eating crackers. He’s unfairly attractive, on top of being sweet, good with his dog, and a reliable source of doughnuts.) But she’s not going to mess up Finn’s budding romance; he’s her _friend_ , and she wants him to be happy.

*

Finn is reasonably sure Rey is interested in the sweetheart with the classic car who brings her doughnuts and lets her play which his adorable dog. He’s a little sad about it; Rey’s wonderful, and if she wasn’t so clearly interested in someone else he might have actually worked up the courage to ask her out. But he’s not going to interfere.

He’s also reasonably sure that Poe couldn’t _really_ be interested in him. Oh, they’re friends, but Finn is so young compared to Poe, so inexperienced - all he really knows is the military academy, which was - he is learning in his intro to psych course - more than a bit fucked up. Poe probably just likes having a jogging buddy who’s willing to listen to all his stories.

*

Poe isn’t sure how he got lucky enough to meet _two_ astonishingly beautiful, sweet, talented young people, but he’s old enough and wise enough to admit - to himself and Beebee, if no one else - that he’s pretty well gone on Finn, and honestly he might be gone on the girl at the auto shop (whose name he never did catch, and now it’s too awkward to ask). They’re both...they’re good with Beebee, and enthusiastic about life, and lovely to watch, and fun to talk to, and Poe would cheerfully take either of them into his bed and his life if they were, by some miracle, to want that.

(Or both. He’d take both. But that would be greedy, and Poe tries not to ask too much of the world. He’s alive, he has Beebee and his car and his friends, that’s enough. He doesn’t actually _need_ two beautiful young lovers. He doesn’t _need_ any. Friends are enough. He’ll just keep telling himself that until he believes it.)

*

“So _why_ am I dressed up nice?” Finn asks as Rey tows him down the street.

“Han invited me to dinner,” Rey says. “He said I could bring a friend.”

“...I’m going to dinner with your boss,” Finn says slowly.

“And his wife, and his business partner, and maybe a couple other people, Han wasn’t real clear on it,” Rey says, shrugging. “I needed backup.”

“Well,” Finn says, and squares his shoulders. “I can do that.”

“I think his wife might be the dean,” Rey adds.

“Oh _shit_ ,” says Finn faintly. “You couldn’t have warned me a little earlier? Dean Organa is _terrifying_.”

“Then you wouldn’t have come,” Rey points out logically.

As they reach the door, a familiar bark rings out behind them, and Finn turns to greet Beebee as the little dog rushes up to him - and then past him to sit eagerly at Rey’s feet. Rey laughs and bends down to scratch the dog behind the ears. “Hey, Beebee!”

“How do you know Beebee?” Finn asks, and looks up. “Hey, Poe.”

“Hey, Finn, I didn’t know you knew Leia…”

“Mr. Dameron!” says Rey, startled. “You know Finn?”

Finn looks from Rey to Poe and back again. “You know Poe? Wait, is he - do you own a classic car?” he asks Poe.

“Yeah,” Poe says, grinning more widely now. “So wait, you’re Finn’s Rey, who has really good paper ideas?”

“Yeah, and you’re Finn’s Poe, who used to fly fighter planes,” Rey says, grinning back.

“You’re classic car guy!” Finn says, delighted.

Behind them, from the doorway, Leia says, “I wasn’t expecting dinner _and_ a show.” Finn jumps about a foot; Rey whirls around. Poe laughs.

“Good evening, Leia; you’re looking lovely,” he says easily. “Has Solo managed to burn dinner yet?”

“My brother’s cooking,” Leia says, grinning at him. “Come on in, all of you, and let’s see what havoc Luke has wreaked on my unsuspecting kitchen.”

*

Dinner is very tasty, but Finn can’t actually remember what it _is_ , because he’s busy watching Poe and Rey banter. Rey has a million questions about fighter planes, and Poe seems delighted to answer them all, and to ask some of his own about her classes and the cars she works on. It’s...really kind of adorable, and now that Finn knows that _Poe_ is the sweet man with the classic car, well, it’s sort of inevitable that Rey would fall for him, isn’t it? Poe’s gorgeous, and good-natured, and smart, and knows about planes.

Thankfully Finn is not required to contribute much to the conversation; Dean Organa is hassling her husband about something, with what sounds like help from Mr. Chewbacca (Finn isn’t sure where _that_ name is from, nor what language Solo’s business partner speaks), while her brother is just sort of laughing quietly at everyone. Finn thinks he might have seen Dean Organa’s brother in the philosophy department - Professor Skywalker, that’s it. Finn is not asking why Dean Organa has a different last name than either her husband or her brother. That just sounds like a can of worms he is _not_ interested in opening.

After dinner, Finn is prepared to walk back to his dorm alone, give Poe and Rey some time together, but Rey loops an arm through his and Poe claps him on the shoulder and somehow they all end up walking to Poe’s little house together, Beebee running in circles around them and yipping joyfully.

*

“So,” says Poe, putting three mugs on his kitchen table, “it’s not Maz’s, but I think I make pretty good hot cocoa.”

Finn takes a sip. There’s cinnamon in it, and he makes a little pleased humming sound. Rey drains half of her mug before she puts it down, and licks off the resulting chocolate mustache unselfconsciously. Poe gives Beebee a treat and then sits down a little nervously, eyeing his guests with hope and apprehension.

“So what was that that Dean Leia said to you before we left?” Rey asks curiously.

Poe takes a deep breath. “She told me life was short and honesty was important. So. Um. Are you two together?”

Finn glances at Rey, who meets his eyes squarely. “Not...yet,” Rey says after a moment. “I kind of thought he was in love with _you_ , the way he talked about Cute Guy at the park.”

“I sort of thought _Rey_ was interested in you, the way she talked about the sweetheart with the classic car,” Finn admits.

“I _am_ interested in him,” Rey points out. “Just...also you, Finn. You’re kind of wonderful.”

“So are you,” Finn says earnestly. “And so’s Poe.”

“Wow,” Poe says. “We’re all idiots. I’m sort of impressed.”

Rey giggles. “Yeah, we kind of are,” she says, and reaches out to take Finn’s hand. “So, we doing this?”

“You’re dropping parts of speech again,” Finn says, grinning. “Yeah, we’re doing this.”

“Awesome,” Rey says.

“...If I wake up and this has all been a dream, I will be very sad,” Poe says, and Finn leans across the table, hand still clasped in Rey’s, to press his lips to Poe’s. Poe tastes like hot chocolate and cinnamon, and he laughs against Finn’s lips, and it’s wonderful.

And then Rey scoots around the table and leans in to join the kiss, which is messy and clumsy and a little awkward and just plain perfect.

“Alright then,” says Poe, a little breathlessly, as they pull apart. “Sweethearts - how _did_ I get so lucky?”

Rey grins. Finn laughs.

“I kind of think _I’m_ the lucky one,” Finn says quietly.

“No, definitely me,” Rey argues.

“...Okay, no, this is too sappy for words, I will die of sugar overload if we keep going,” Poe declares. “I vote we adjourn to the couch, where I can snuggle both of you, and stop trying to out-cute each other.”

Rey and Finn glance at each other. “Sounds good to me,” Finn says.

Rey snatches up her mug and finishes off the rest of her hot chocolate. “Let’s do it.”

Snuggling on the couch is _exactly_ as pleasant as Finn could have imagined, even with Beebee sleeping on his feet. Rey is warm against his right shoulder and Poe is warm against his left and Finn is happier than he’s ever been, comfortable and contented right down to his bones.

“This is good,” Rey says quietly after a long while, soft and happy. “I like this.”

“Yeah,” Poe says. “Yeah. This is good.”

Finn quite agrees.


End file.
